CSI and Mike Ross: The Rogue Who Could Dance
by Miamara10
Summary: Mile Ross was once a great cop, but a series of personal tragedies left him a recovering alcoholic now a security guard, this was to change when a murder occurs in his neighborhood and the fingers point his way only Nick Stokes believes he is innocent.


The Rogue Who Could Dance

By Miamara10

Chapter ONE

I could see the sun was rising through the sheer white nylon curtains that moved sensually in the mid summer breeze. The rays had only just begun to creep from somewhere outside to move delicately into the room and across the yellow and green carpeted floor. The stereo was playing softly strains of some forgotten tune and my foot still tapped out the rhythm on the wooden end of the bed. Beside me my old shepherd slept full stretch as if this was his bed, not mine. It wasn't, normally he slept outside but I had come in late and let him stay inside. I was an ex-cop who now worked security at a local supermarket down town. I had once been accustomed to a better life, but that was years ago when I had been a kid. Now Mike Ross was like everyone that lived in this street. Like most of those people that walked and shopped in the market where I worked, I was living on the edge.

I had my eyes closed and the book on my chest moved with each breath. Thoughts were somewhere between getting up and drinking some coffee with a cigarette, or maybe jumping into a shower. The mundaneness of life had become tragic, how I missed the blue uniform and the scream of sirens racing through the city streets, how I missed the adrenaline rush from mixing it with the drunks and brawls. I opened my eyes and stared into the half lit bedroom, moving from the dresser to the desk with the lamp made of fake crystals, the pile of smut my house mate had given him earlier in the week and the old aftershaves and deodorants that had accumulated over time. There was a photo of a woman with a man that looked like me taken somewhere in the sunshine where an ocean wind tossed their hair like the kites in the background. This was a moment in time held forever for me to lament and morn. It had been a time when I was most happiest, but it was so long ago now, that its memory was faded like the photo. The pull of alcohol fleetingly tugged at my body. That was the crutch I had used once to but it was too late for all that; too late to save my career, too late to save the relationship with my family in Country, everything always seemed to be too late. The self absorbed time of regret made me angry with myself, that was all years ago and I was beginning to move forward, slowly, but no matter it was the widening of time and distance from the agonies of my past.

I stretch out my full six five and, disturbing the dog, rolling out of the bed. Clad in purple boxer shorts, I walked from my room to the bathroom across the hall. My house mate, Fowler was out. That was because his new girlfriend despised me. They would be back when I went to work. It was only a matter of time before Fowler told me to get out for good. My time on Cotton Drive in the city suburbs was limited, but it was hard to think too much about that now; I reach into the shower and twisted the nob. No use in dwelling upon what would have happened sooner or later, lets face it, it was about time I really did have to get my own place.

It was mid morning when I finished my second coffee and third cigarette. The dog was out the back yard barking at the neighbouring Labrador and the mail man had just delivered the latest windowed letters that had the tell-tale URGENT stamped in red on the front. Damn bills again, it was a never ending cycle one that was impossible to avoid. I get the bills addressed to me; credit cards, mobile phone, car rego due and insurance then I grab my old leather jacket and head out the door. The old Ford was parked by the side of the house, only a few feet away from the front door but I stopped on the veranda and stared out into the street. A police car was parked across the road in front of 401, where the new neighbours had moved in only a month ago but failed to show themselves to anyone in the street. Secretive people, they had moved in late at night, so late that I think I was the only one to see them as I got home from night shift. But it had only been in glimpses that I had seen them since. Times when they got into the little red Astra or the yellow haired guys black Monaro. It had been the woman who seemed to own the Astra that got my attention, a curvy brunette who wore short skirts or tight pants with long legs and high healed boots.

The second police car and an ambulance pulled up in front of the house but it was clear that they were going across to number 401. The two cops in the marked car both stopped and looked at me, shit! I new one of them from Redfern station where I had been stationed several years ago. It was Nick Stokes, an ass in forensics and behind him I saw Jim Brass. I nodded respectfully at him. Stokes recognised me and smiled, almost friendly, I sat down on the top stair of the veranda. I wanted to know what the hell was going on, so I lit a cigarette and watched the cops, forensics and the Ds arrive to begin to investigate the murder of one of my neighbours.

There was the usual parade. I saw new CSI members come and go onto the crime scene. My pulse increased when Katherine arrived with Grissom. I had thought my old nemesis had retired but apparently those rumours were quite wrong. While I worked under Brass, Grissom had made my job extremely hard, but he was a hard task master anyway. He would constantly ask for my superior, refused to work with me and when we did he questioned every move I made. When I left, strangely it was Grissom that shook my hand first and wished me well. The one person I didn't see was Sarah Sidle who was Grissoms partner, common knowledge now though it was something I had suspected for years when I was there. The CSI team looked so much older, the five years since working along side them seemed to show visibly, in changing hair colour, weight gain, specks and lines, I wondered how bad I looked to them.

"Hello!" the soft familiar voice said close to me. I hadn't notice Katherine come toward the house. I got up and smiled into her slender face with large green eyes. I had been her lover many years ago, long before my wife and I met. A brief memory of her slender body drifted across my mind but I shoved it away and looked at her with genuine affection shown to only close friends.

"Kat, you look great." No-one but me could call her that. I came down to meet her on the lawn, she leaned forward and we exchanged a friendly kiss on the cheek. Her perfume was quite heady.

"You look like crap, why haven't I heard from you?" she smiled at me, "are you working?"

"Well you know my mobile number and yes I am working thanks. Not like you guys though." I glanced back at the huge build up of cops and emergency uniforms. "I cant wait to hear the gossip on this one,"

"I lost contact with you after you left the force. I don't know why." she looked apologetically at me. "Considering our past, that was terrible of me."

"Things happen, you couldn't help me much then anyhow, no one could." I remembered being a drunken idiot. "I think you did the right thing."

"Did I, I don't know, friends don't leave each-other when it all gets tough. I think knowing you had Nick at your back sort of made me complacent and I hoped he was enough." She looked regretfully into my eyes. "I was so selfish then."

"No, don't think that way. You had a life and you had your daughter to worry about. Life went on Kat." I smiled trying to sooth her and I touched her cool arm affectionately. She held my hand then let it go. "I'm fine anyhow, Nick hung around for a while, but we weren't the best of mates back then let alone before.." I stepped back away from her.  
>"So, do you live here?"<p>

"Sure do I have done for a while now. I guess I will probably get interviewed, not that I know much." I got a cigarette out and lit it.

"Well you know the routine." Katherine hooked her thumbs into her black jeans belt. "it doesn't change." she glanced back at the gathering CSI crew and looked back at me. "Gil is back with us."

"Nice to hear Kat, he always did make the team complete." She nodded and turned away from me.

"I will probably see you soon." Her voice was distant and I recognised the signs, Katharine's mind was already looking over the crime scene and I was keeping her from her job.

"No doubt." We nodded at each-other and she rushed off to join Nick who was stood outside the house where the law was gathering like a swarm of locusts.

It was a few hours before the cops began to leave the scene and I watched their departure smoking and drinking coffee. Once there were only a couple left, I noted it had been five hours since the CSI team had gone inside. The place had to be a mess since it was such an unusually long time on the scene but eventually Nick came out and when he did he and Brass came across the road. It was obvious that this was not a friendly visit, I knew I was going to be questioned.


End file.
